Ball joint most likely to go

[ophidia]

It sounds as if there's a ball joint going in the left front of my 1999 Mountaineer Auto 4x4 4.0L. The truck has 123000 miles on it (bought it with 112000) and I have no idea if any have ever been replaced.

Having just spent about 600 on having ball joints done on one side of my car (VW) I intend to do this myself (looking at the stickies it appears to be much, much easier). When I jack it up and try to determine which joint, which one should I focus on? I know on my car, the upper ones are 10x more likely to go than the lower one. Is it the same here?

Thanks!

 

[carlover]

The lowers are the quickest wearing on our explorers from what ive seen. The support all the weight and deal with the most extreme angles.

 

[ophidia]

Sounds good. You have to take the steering knuckle off to do the lower, don't you?

 

[1996xlt]

Yes.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188225

 

[ophidia]

Looks easy enough. Thanks everyone!